okay so I did some apples =)

Image by HA! Designs - Artbyheather via Flickr
 LOL! Well I had to do something with the apple jelly boiling away on the stove! We got 2 pints, 4 half pints and 1 pint for the fridge -- we wanted to try it tomorrow =)



When I bought alot of these jars a couple months ago at Salvation Army there were these cute little jelly jars in there. The kids have been using them as glasses to drink out of. Well they are one short after tonight. #3 washed one for us to put jelly in for the fridge and Chiam picked it up and went to sterilize it in the boiling water -- #3 had JUST rinsed it in cold water!! Almost instantly we heard a crack -- no more jelly jar =(


They have more but those little glasses sure was cute! (similar to the ones in the picture)



Oh and I also made some more amaretto -- MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm! Last year when I made it I think I used WAY too much sweetener, well this time I added the old amaretto (1/2 pint) and then no sweetener. Tasted good so far! =)

later...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Recipes for preserving and pickling (telegraph.co.uk)
• Canning novices can hardly contain enthusiasm (knoxnews.com)
• Strawberry and sparkling wine jelly (independent.co.uk)

canning but no apples

Image via Wikipedia
So today we canned 6 pints of plum preserves and 5 pints of peach preserves - with 1 in the fridge part full. And one HUGE pot of apple juice going on the stove for jelly.





We've got 3 quarts of dried mushrooms -- well 2 and half actually cause I used some the other night for swiss mushroom burgers (mmmmm.......)

And I lost the battle of keeping the apple peels =(   I had about 9 big ziploc bags stored in the deep freeze and it was too many. Especially when I got such a great deal on hamburger =)


Just don't ask me what I'm gonna do with 40 lbs of hamburger!! I hope I can make it tasty cause that's the main meat we've got this month LOL!

later...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Canning novices can hardly contain enthusiasm (knoxnews.com)
• Canners in Brevard County preserve flavors of summer (pbpulse.com)

no apples today!

Image via Wikipedia

Trying to put off the inevitable and cleaned out the freezers of everything I can. Got out some of our potatoes for a crock pot surprise meal (?), plums, and peaches. I had bought the plums and peaches when they were cheap but it was so hot that all I did was prep them for preserves and then freeze them. Well now seemed like a good time =)


So tomorrow will be a busy day.

Oh, yeah and I also pulled out and boiled 2 big bags of apple peels and cores for jelly. I'm gonna let them strain all night long to make jelly tomorrow.


And did I forget to say we've had a surplus of eggs in the fridge too?? gotta lot to do tomorrow!



later...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Freezing peach pie filling (celebrategreen.net)
• Making Jam (daysontheclaise.blogspot.com)
• Benefits of Apple Pectin (herbal-properties.suite101.com)
• Peaches! Get Yer Fresh Peaches! (timesunion.com)
• A Guide to Growing Plum Trees from Seed (brighthub.com)
• Preserves Cookbook Roundup (christiescorner.com)
• Recipes for preserving and pickling (telegraph.co.uk)
• Perfect Plums: 7 Late-Summer Desserts On Our List (thekitchn.com)

Been doing jelly like crazy.

Been doing jelly like crazy. Saturday we finally did the crab apple juice that we made last fall into jelly. It turned a really pretty clear red. Which means we did the juicing right =)

Had a little left over and we added regular apple juice to it so it would be a full batch. Now that was a REALLY beautiful pinky/peach color. It was crystal clear too. =)

Yesterday we did the pomegranate juice -- remember the POM Wonderful contest? (here) Well the bottle I had was only enough for about half a batch so I added in some black cherry/concord grape juice for the other half. It tastes really good! Then cause I was on a roll I made a batch with just the black cherry/concord grape. But I ran out of sugar so I just used the no sugar pectin --- YUCK! Darkside likes it but I sure don't! It's just a little too tart or something.

I've been more than a little preoccupied with an app on Myspace lately =) But we gotta get to cracking this week so it'll be sitting for a bit till things calm down.

Oh and we didn't go to the auction yesterday. I guess SR decided that it was ok to keep feeding the fat white "hogs" -- UGH! I really wanted to get rid of them! And I really don't want to mess with slaughtering them. You know maybe today or tomorrow I'll start calling slaughtering houses to see which ones close will do chickens. I only called one before, at least that may be an idea? =)

later...

stuff

I really am worried about all the coldness at night on the garden. It was in the 40's the last couple nights! I hope things will be ok.

We canned salsa and spiced blueberry jam yesterday. Also started some more salsa but didn't finish it - gonna do that today.

Also today going to get the chicken coop started on a deep litter method. I hope it works as well as some claim - if not SR is going to have a laugh at us! LOL!

AND... we got the go ahead to start on another addition!! So we need to get things marked off and lined up. This one is going to be MUCH larger - like 10' x 20' !! And we will also be redoing the south side of the house at the same time (this is where we are adding onto). We asked SR what he's going to do with his new east wing when we are gone and he said --- I'll just move a prostitute in! LOL! Old men are weird!!


later...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Building Your Chicken Coop Instructions (animaltopics.com)
• Searching Problems for Designs of Your Chick House (animaltopics.com)
• The Art of Building Chicken Coops (animaltopics.com)
• Gallery of chicken coops (boingboing.net)
• Letter Re: A Method for Storing Fresh Eggs up to Two Years (survivalblog.com)

How Does Your Garden Grow

This week I'm going to be lazy and mainly post some pics =)

Did you see our new toy? YEA!! Finally we can till whenever we want!

Also wanted to share about our rooster, he's starting to crow. And he's feeling very cocky can't you tell? LOL!


This last week we've done tons of pickling and dehydrating. Tonight we did 2 batches of jam too. Now I have to wait till I go grocery shopping to do anymore canning (that's Sat.).

Tomorrow we will begin planting the rest of the fall garden. Here's what we got - 2 small kinds of cucumbers, more zucchini, tomatillos, peas, 2 more tomatoes, baby corn, more onions, broccoli, more green beans, and more radishes. I already foresee problems with the tomatoes and tomatillos, but oh well, we'll try!

later...

canning

Image via Wikipedia

For the past couple of days I have been processing things for winter, either by canning it or freezing it to can when it's cooler out.

Here's what I've made so far -

• cherry jelly (canned 8 half pints)
  
• spiced blueberry jam (frozen 4 batches)
  
• cherry jam (frozen 1 batch)
  
• veggie relish (canned 5 half pints, 3 bowls in fridge)
  

I got the recipes for the last 3 from a book I received from paperbackswap. It's called Better Homes and Gardens Canning & Preserving Recipes. So far they taste great! If anyone wants a certain recipe just holler and I'll post it.

Aldi's has some more blueberries, strawberries, and cherries on sale for pretty cheap (although free is better!) so I'm sure I'll be doing more.

Plus, I still have zucchini and 2 watermelons to do something with! The only drawback is I only have 12 pint jars.

later...

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to Can Tomatoes (marksdailyapple.com)
• Getting Started With Canning, aka Home Food Preservation [Saving Money] (lifehacker.com)
• Learn How to Can and Make New Friends! San Francisco Bay Area (thekitchn.com)
• Canning in the City The New York Times (thekitchn.com)
• Back on Track: Big Bowl of Fruit Salad (fitsugar.com)